Magnolia is a largegenus of about 210 to 340[a]flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of thefamilyMagnoliaceae. The natural range ofMagnolia species isdisjunct, with a main center in east, south and southeast Asia and a secondary center in eastern North America, Central America, theWest Indies, and some species in South America.
Magnolias are evergreen or deciduoustrees orshrubs known for their large, fragrant, bowl- or star-shaped flowers with numerous spirally arranged reproductive parts, producing cone-like fruits inautumn that open to reveal seeds. The genusMagnolia was first named in 1703 byCharles Plumier, honoringPierre Magnol, with early taxonomy refined byLinnaeus in the 18th century based onAmerican and laterAsian species. Modern molecular phylogenetic studies have revealed complex relationships leading to taxonomic debates about merging related genera likeMichelia withMagnolia. Magnolia species are valued horticulturally for their early and showy flowering, used culinarily in various edible forms, employed intraditional medicine for their bioactive compounds likemagnolol andhonokiol, and harvested fortimber, with hybridization enhancing desirable traits.
Magnolia is an ancient genus that dates back to theCretaceous. Fossilized specimens ofM. acuminata have been found dating to 20 million years ago (mya), and fossils of plants identifiably belonging to the Magnoliaceae date to 95 mya.[4] They are theorized to have evolved to encouragepollination bybeetles as they existed prior to the evolution ofbees.[5] Another aspect ofMagnolia considered to represent an ancestral state is that the flower bud is enclosed in abract rather than insepals; theperianth parts are undifferentiated and calledtepals rather than distinct sepals andpetals.Magnolia shares the tepal characteristic with several other flowering plants near thebase of the flowering plant lineage, such asAmborella andNymphaea (as well as with many more recently derived plants, such asLilium).
Magnolias are culturally significant symbols, serving as official flowers and trees in various regions likeShanghai,Mississippi,Louisiana,North Korea, andSeoul, and are closely associated with theSouthern United States. In the arts, magnolias symbolize both beauty and resilience, as seen in the play and filmSteel Magnolias, while also evoking the contrasting brutality of lynching in the song "Strange Fruit" and Southern stereotypes in political commentary.
Mature magnolia fruit just starting to open, with a few seeds visible
An anatomical diagram of the flower ofMagnolia biondiiMagnolia seeds and fruit
Magnolias are spreadingevergreen ordeciduous trees or shrubs characterised by large fragrantflowers, which may be bowl-shaped or star-shaped, in shades of white, pink, purple, green, or yellow. In deciduous species, the blooms often appear before the leaves in spring. Cone-like fruits are often produced in the autumn.[6]
The fruitdehisces along the dorsal sutures of the carpels. Thepollen ismonocolpate, and the embryonic development is of thePolygonum type.[citation needed]Taxonomists, including James E. Dandy in 1927, have used differences in the fruits of Magnoliaceae as the basis for classification systems.[8]
The nameMagnolia first appeared in 1703 in theGenera[9] written by French botanistCharles Plumier, for a flowering tree from the island ofMartinique (talauma). It was named after French botanistPierre Magnol. English botanistWilliam Sherard, who studied botany in Paris underJoseph Pitton de Tournefort, a pupil of Magnol, was most probably the first after Plumier to adopt the genus nameMagnolia. He was at least responsible for thetaxonomic part ofJohann Jacob Dillenius'sHortus Elthamensis[10] and ofMark Catesby'sNatural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands.[11] These were the first works after Plumier'sGenera that used the nameMagnolia, this time for some species offlowering trees fromtemperate North America. The species that Plumier originally namedMagnolia was later described asAnnona dodecapetala byJean-Baptiste Lamarck[12] and has since been namedMagnolia plumieri andTalauma plumieri (among a number of other names), but is now known asMagnolia dodecapetala.[b]
Carl Linnaeus, who was familiar with Plumier'sGenera, adopted the genus nameMagnolia in 1735 in his first edition ofSystema Naturae, without a description but with a reference to Plumier's work. In 1753, he took up Plumier'sMagnolia in the first edition ofSpecies Plantarum. He described amonotypic genus, with the sole species beingMagnolia virginiana. Since Linnaeus never saw a herbarium specimen (if there ever was one) of Plumier'sMagnolia and had only his description and a rather poor picture at hand, he must have taken it for the same plant that was described byMark Catesby in his 1730Natural History of Carolina. He placed it in thesynonymy ofMagnolia virginiana var.fœtida, thetaxon now known asMagnolia grandiflora. UnderMagnolia virginiana, Linnaeus described five varieties (glauca,fœtida,grisea,tripetala, andacuminata). In the tenth edition ofSystema Naturae (1759), he mergedgrisea withglauca and raised the four remaining varieties to species status.[c]
By the end of the 18th century, botanists and plant hunters exploring Asia had begun to name and describe theMagnolia species from China and Japan. The first Asiatic species to be described by western botanists wereMagnolia denudata,Magnolia liliiflora,[d]Magnolia coco, andMagnolia figo.[e] Soon after that, in 1794,Carl Peter Thunberg collected and describedMagnolia obovata from Japan, and roughly at the same timeMagnolia kobus was also first collected.[13]
With the number of species increasing, the genus was divided into two subgenera,Magnolia andYulania.Magnolia contains the American evergreen speciesM. grandiflora, which is of horticultural importance, especially in the southeastern United States, andM. virginiana, thetype species.Yulania contains several deciduous Asiatic species, such asM. denudata andM. kobus, which have become horticulturally important in their own right and as parents inhybrids. Classified inYulania is also the American deciduousM. acuminata (cucumber tree), which has recently attained greater status as the parent responsible for the yellow flower color.
Relations in the family Magnoliaceae have puzzled taxonomists for a long time. Because the family is quite old and has survived many geological events (such as ice ages, mountain formation, and continental drift), its distribution has become scattered. Some species or groups of species have been isolated for a long time, while others could stay in close contact. To create divisions in the family (or even within the genusMagnolia) solely based upon morphological characters has proven to be a nearly impossible task.[f]
By the end of the 20th century,DNA sequencing had become available as a method of large-scale research onphylogenetic relationships. Several studies, including studies on many species in the family Magnoliaceae, were carried out to investigate relationships.[14][15][16] What these studies all revealed was that the genusMichelia andMagnolia subgenusYulania were far more closely allied to each other than either one of them was toMagnolia subgenusMagnolia. These phylogenetic studies were supported by morphological data.[17]
Asnomenclature is supposed to reflect relationships, the situation with the species names inMichelia andMagnolia subgenusYulania was undesirable. Taxonomically, three choices are available:
to joinMichelia andYulania species in a common genus, not beingMagnolia (for which the nameMichelia has priority);
to raise subgenusYulania to generic rank, leavingMichelia names and subgenusMagnolia names untouched, or;
to joinMichelia with the genusMagnolia into the genusMagnolias.l. (a big genus).
Magnolia subgenusMagnolia cannot be renamed because it containsM. virginiana, the type species of the genus and of the family.
Not manyMichelia species have so far become horticulturally or economically important, apart from their wood. Both subgenusMagnolia and subgenusYulania include species of major horticultural importance, and a change of name would be very undesirable for many people, especially in the horticultural branch. In Europe,Magnolia is even more or less a synonym forYulania, since most of the cultivated species on this continent haveMagnolia (Yulania) denudata as one of their parents. Most taxonomists who acknowledge close relations betweenYulania andMichelia therefore support the third option and joinMichelia withMagnolia.[citation needed]
The same goes,mutatis mutandis, for the (former) generaTalauma andDugandiodendron, which are then placed in subgenusMagnolia, and genusManglietia, which could be joined with subgenusMagnolia or may even earn the status of an extra subgenus.Elmerrillia seems to be closely related toMichelia andYulania, in which case it will most likely be treated in the same way asMichelia is now. The precise nomenclatural status of small or monospecific genera likeKmeria,Parakmeria,Pachylarnax,Manglietiastrum,Aromadendron,Woonyoungia,Alcimandra,Paramichelia, andTsoongiodendron remains uncertain. Taxonomists who mergeMichelia intoMagnolia tend to merge these small genera intoMagnolia s.l. as well. Botanists do not agree on whether to recognize a bigMagnolia or the different small genera. For example,Flora of China offers two choices: a large genusMagnolia, which includes about 300 species and everything in theMagnoliaceae exceptLiriodendron (tulip tree), or 16 different genera, some of them recently split out or re-recognized, each of which contains up to 50 species.[18] The western co-author favors the big genusMagnolia, whereas the Chinese recognize the different small genera.
New species ofMagnolia are still being discovered today. In 2014, researchers discoveredMagnolia vargasiana andMagnolia llangantensis in Ecuador’s Cordillera Llanganates, within the Río Zuñac Reserve at 2000 meters elevation. The Río Zuñac Reserve is a privately protected conservation area in Ecuador, managed by the EcoMinga Foundation. This newly identified tree species grows between 11 and 26 meters tall and features sub-orbicular leaves, creamy white petals, and a pollination system involving flea beetles. Found during a vegetation survey, its limited distribution and low population density place it at risk of extinction.[19]
Fossils go back to the Late Cretaceous. Post KT fossils ofMagnolia are known from thePaleogene, for example the speciesMagnolia nanningensis, named for mummified wood from theOligocene ofGuangxi, China, which has a close affinity to members of the modern sectionMichelia.[20]
In 2012, the Magnolia Society published on its website a classification of the genus produced by Richard B. Figlar, based on a 2004 classification by Figlar andHans Peter Nooteboom. Species ofMagnolia were listed under threesubgenera, 12sections, and 13 subsections.[21][22] Subsequentmolecular phylogenetic studies have led to some revisions of this system; for example, the subgenusMagnolia was found not to bemonophyletic. A revised classification in 2020, based on a phylogenetic analysis of completechloroplastgenomes, abandoned subgenera and subsections, dividingMagnolia into 15 sections. The relationships among these sections are shown in the followingcladogram, as is the paraphyletic status of subgenusMagnolia.[23]
Clade I
M. sect.Splendentes
M. sect.Talauma
M. sect.Gwillimia
Clade II
Clade A
M. sect.Tuliparia
M. sect.Macrophylla
Clade B
M. sect.Magnolia
M. sect.Oyama
M. sect.Rytidospermum
M. sect.Manglietia
Clade C
M. sect.Kmeria
M. sect.Gynopodium
M. sect.Tulipastrum
M. sect.Yulania
M. sect.Maingola
M. sect.Michelia
M. subg.Magnolia (not monophyletic)
M. subg.Gynopodium
M. subg.Yulania
The table below compares the 2012 and 2020 classifications. (Thecircumscriptions of the corresponding taxa may not be the same.)
In general, the genusMagnolia has attracted horticultural interest. Some, such as the shrubM. stellata (star magnolia) and the treeM. ×soulangeana (saucer magnolia) flower quite early in the spring, before the leaves open. Others flower in late spring or early summer, includingM. virginiana (sweetbay magnolia) andM. grandiflora (southern magnolia). The shape of these flowers lend themselves to the common nametulip tree that is sometimes applied to someMagnolia species.[g]
Hybridisation has been immensely successful in combining the best aspects of different species to give plants which flower at an earlier age than the parent species, as well as having more impressive flowers. One of the most popular garden magnolias,M. ×soulangeana, is a hybrid ofM. liliiflora andM. denudata. In the eastern United States, five native species are frequently in cultivation:M. acuminata (as a shade tree),M. grandiflora,M. virginiana,M. tripetala, andM. macrophylla. The last two species must be planted where high winds are not a frequent problem because of the large size of their leaves. Young plants of the Florida endemicM. ashei start flowering at a particularly early age, even just 3–4 years old, making it popular.[29]
The flowers of many species are considered edible. In parts of England, the petals ofM. grandiflora are pickled and used as a spicycondiment.[30] In some Asian cuisines, the buds are pickled and used to flavor rice and scent tea. In Japan, the young leaves and flower buds ofM. hypoleuca are broiled and eaten as a vegetable. Older leaves are made into a powder and used as seasoning; dried, whole leaves are placed on a charcoal brazier and filled withmiso, leeks,daikon, andshiitake, and broiled. There is a type ofmiso which is seasoned with magnolia, hoba miso.[31][32]
A magnolia tree in anudiflorum varietal showing full bloom in spring before leaf emergenceMagnolia tree in bloomMagnolia tree in autumn
The bark and flower buds ofM. officinalis have long been used intraditional Chinese medicine, where they are known ashou po (厚朴). In Japan,kōboku,M. obovata, has been used in a similar manner.[33][34]
The cucumbertree,M. acuminata, grows to large size and is harvested as a timber tree in northeastern U.S. forests. Its wood is sold as "yellow poplar" along with that of the tuliptree,Liriodendron tulipifera. The Fraser magnolia,M. fraseri, also attains enough size sometimes to be harvested, as well.[citation needed]
According to Paul Standley'sTrees and Shrubs of Mexico,[43] a magnolia is also called a Semiramis tree. Semiramis was the famed Queen of Babylon known for her beauty and penchant for conquest. The Bible refers to Queen Semiramis with the phrase "goddess of Fortresses” which is implied somewhere in Daniel 11.[44]
The 1989 movieSteel Magnolias is based on a 1987 play,Steel Magnolias, byRobert Harling. They are about the bond among a group of women from Louisiana, who can be as beautiful as magnolias, but are as tough as steel. The name 'magnolia' specifically refers to a magnolia tree about which they are arguing at the beginning.[45]
In the 1939 song "Strange Fruit", originally written as a poem by New York schoolteacher and communist activistAbel Meeropol to condemn the practice oflynching, the magnolia flower was referred to as being associated with theSouthern United States, where many lynchings took place:
Pastoral scene of the gallant south
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.
Despite Meeropol's frequent mention of the South and magnolia trees, the horrific image which inspired his poem,Lawrence Beitler's 1930 photograph of the lynching ofThomas Shipp and Abram Smith following the robbery and murder of Claude Deteer, was taken inMarion, Indiana, where magnolia trees are less common.
In the 1960s, magnolias were a symbol of the South in the popular press: theNew York Post noted of Lyndon Johnson that "A man who wore a ten-gallon Stetson and spoke with a magnolia accent had little hope of winning the Democratic nomination in 1960", and biographer Robert Caro picks up the symbol by saying that when Johnson became president "[t]he taint of magnolias still remained to be scrubbed off."[46]
^The number of species in the genusMagnolia depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular andmorphological research shows that former generaTalauma,Dugandiodendron,Manglietia,Michelia,Elmerrillia,Kmeria,Parakmeria,Pachylarnax (and a small number of monospecific genera) all belong within the same genus,Magnolia s.l. (s.l. =sensu lato: 'in a broad sense', as opposed to s.s. =sensu stricto: 'in a narrow sense'). The genusMagnolia s.s. contains about 120 species. See the sectionNomenclature and classification in this article.
^Under the rule of priority, the first name that is validly published in Linnaeus'Species Plantarum (1 May 1753) or any other work of any otherbotanist after that, takes precedence over later names. Plumier's name was not abinomen and moreover published beforeSpecies Plantarum, so it has no status. The first binomen published after 1753 was Lamarck'sAnnona dodecapetala (1786).Magnolia plumieri (1788) was published on a later date by Schwartz, and is treated as a later synonym, as areMagnolia fatiscens (1817; Richard),Talauma caerulea (Jaume St-Hilaire 1805) andMagnolia linguifolia (1822).
^Magnolia glauca has the same type specimen asMagnolia virginiana and as the latter is the first valid name, the species is now calledMagnolia virginiana (sweetbay magnolia). Var.fœtida was renamedMagnolia grandiflora, which is legitimate as the epithetfœtida only has priority in its rank of variety.Magnolia grandiflora is the southern magnolia.Magnolia tripetala (umbrella magnolia) andMagnolia acuminata (cucumber tree) are still recognized as species.
^Under these names the species were described byDesrousseaux inLamarck'sEncyclopédie Méthodique Botanique, tome troisieme (1792): 675. In the beginning of the 20th century, descriptions which seemed to represent the same species, were found in a work of the French naturalistP.J. Buc'hoz,Plantes nouvellement découvertes (1779), under the namesLassonia heptapeta andLassonia quinquepeta. In 1934, the English botanist J.E. Dandy argued that these names had priority over the names by which both species had been known for over a century and hence from then onMagnolia denudata had to be namedMagnolia heptapeta,Magnolia liliiflora should be changed intoMagnolia quinquepeta. After a lengthy debate, specialist taxonomists decided that the Buc'hoz's names were based onchimaeras (pictures constructed of elements of different species), and as Buc'hoz did not cite or preserve herbarium specimens, his names were ruled not to be acceptable.
^These species were published asLiriodendron coco andLiriodendron figo by J. de Loureiro inFlora Cochinchinensis (1790) and later (1817) transferred toMagnolia byA. P. de Candolle.Magnolia figo was soon after transferred to the genusMichelia.
^In 1927 J.E. Dandy accepted 10 genera inThe genera of Magnoliaceae,Kew Bulletin 1927: 257–264. In 1984 Law Yuh-Wu proposed 15 inA preliminary study on the taxonomy of the family Magnoliaceae,Acta Phytotaxonomica Sinica 22: 89–109; in 2004 even 16, inMagnolias of China. This is not just about grouping some genera together where others do not; authors often choose different boundaries.
^"Magnolia Plum. ex L."Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved2022-03-25.
^Crane, P.R. (1988). "The phylogenetic position and fossil history of the Magnoliaceae". In Hunt, David R. (ed.).Magnolias and their allies: Proceedings of an International Symposium, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, U.K., 12-13 April 1996. Milbourne Port. p. 21.ISBN978-0-9517234-8-7.OCLC40781614.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Brickell, Christopher (2008).The Royal Horticultural Society A-Z encyclopedia of garden plants (3rd ed.). United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 661.ISBN978-1-4053-3296-5.
^Plumier, C. (1703)Nova plantarum Americanarum genera. Paris. [New genera of American plants].
^Dillenius, J.J. (1732),Hortus Elthamensis, seu plantarum rariorum quas in horto suo Elthami in Cantio coluit vir ornamentissimus et praestantissimus Jacobus Sherard. London [The garden of Eltham, or rather about the rare plants that the most distinguished and prominent man Jacob Sherard grows in his garden in Eltham in Kent].
^Catesby, M. (1730),The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, containing the figures of birds, beasts, fishes, serpents, insects and plants, Vol. 1. London.
^Lamarck, J.B.P.A. de (1786),Encyclopédie Méthodique Botanique, tome second: 127. Paris.
^Magnolia kobus only received its name in 1814, when it was validly published by A.P. de Candolle. There has been much confusion about earlier attempts to validly publish this species, especially because descriptions and type specimens did not match.
^Azuma, H.; Thien, L.B.; Kawano, S. (1999). "Molecular phylogeny ofMagnolia (Magnoliaceae) inferred from cpDNA sequences and evolutionary divergence of the floral scents".Journal of Plant Research.112 (1107):291–306.Bibcode:1999JPlR..112..291A.doi:10.1007/pl00013885.S2CID206862607.
^Azuma, H.; García-Franco, J.G.; Rico-Gray, V.; Thien, L.B. (2001). "Molecular phylogeny of the Magnoliaceae: the biogeography of tropical and temperate disjunctions".American Journal of Botany.88 (12):2275–2285.Bibcode:2001AmJB...88.2275A.doi:10.2307/3558389.JSTOR3558389.PMID21669660.
^Kim, S.; et al. (2001). "Phylogenetic relationships in family Magnoliaceae inferred from ndhF sequences".American Journal of Botany.88 (4):717–728.doi:10.2307/2657073.JSTOR2657073.PMID11302859.
^Figlar, R.B. (2000), Proleptic branch initiation inMichelia andMagnolia subgenusYulania provides basis for combinations in subfamily Magnolioideae. In: Liu Yu-hu et al.,Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Family Magnoliaceae: 14–25, Science Press, Beijing.
^abFiglar, Richard B. (April 2012)."Magnolia Classification". Magnolia Society International. Archived fromthe original on 12 March 2022. Retrieved27 May 2020.
^abWang, Y.-B.; Liu, B.-B.; Nie, Z.-L.; Chen, H.-F.; Chen, F.-J.; Figlar, R.B. & Wen, J. (2020), "Major clades and a revised classification ofMagnolia and Magnoliaceae based on whole plastid genome sequences via genome skimming",Journal of Systematics and Evolution,58 (5):673–695,Bibcode:2020JSyEv..58..673W,doi:10.1111/jse.12588,S2CID216340359
^William Miller. "Magnolia."A Dictionary of English Names of Plants: Applied in England and Among English-speaking People to Cultivated and Wild Plants, Trees, and Shrubs. John Murray, 1884.p. 217.
^Richard Brook.New Cyclopædia of Botany and Complete Book of Herbs: Forming a History and Description of All Plants, British Or Foreign (etc.). W. M. Clark, 1854.p. 248.
^Pat Munts and Susan Mulvihill.Northwest Gardener's Handbook: Your Complete Guide: Select, Plan, Plant, Maintain, Problem-Solve: Oregon, Washington, Northern California, British Columbia. Cool Springs Press, 2015.ISBN9781627885522p. 209.
^Amy Renea.Crafting with Nature: Grow or Gather Your Own Supplies for Simple Handmade Crafts, Gifts & Recipes. Page Street, 2016.ISBN9781624142055p. 173.
^Ma, L.; Chen, J.; Wang, X.; Liang, X.; Luo, Y.; Zhu, W.; Wang, T.; Peng, M.; Li, S.; Jie, S.; Peng, A.; Wei, Y.; Chen, L. (2011). "Structural modification of honokiol, a biphenyl occurring in magnolia officinalis: The evaluation of honokiol analogues as inhibitors of angiogenesis and for their cytotoxicity and structure-activity relationship".Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.54 (19):6469–6481.doi:10.1021/jm200830u.PMID21853991.
^Lee YJ, Lee YM, Lee CK, Jung JK, Han SB, Hong JT (2011). "Therapeutic applications of compounds in the Magnolia family".Pharmacol. Ther.130 (2):157–176.doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2011.01.010.PMID21277893.
Cicuzza, D.; Newton, A.; Oldfield, S. (2007).The Red List of Magnoliaceae(PDF). Fauna & Flora International and Botanic Gardens (Report). Conservation International.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09.
Friedman, William (Ned)."Hunting magnolia fruits at the Arboretum."Posts from the Collection, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University website, 20 October 2019. Accessed 29 April 2020.
Glasser, Larissa."Magnolia madness in April."Blog of the Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University website, 19 April 2017. Accessed 29 April 2020.
"Conserving threatened Magnolia species".Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Archived fromthe original on 2016-03-10. Retrieved2011-04-01.Background information, reports, images and related articles
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